Toothpick-machine.



. E. GREENWOOD..

TOOTHPICK MACHINE. APPL |cAT|oN `FILED sEPT.24, 1915.

1,220,096.v Patented Mar. 20,1917.

EDWARD GREENWOOD, E PHILLIPS, MAINE.'

TOOTHPICK-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent. i

Patented Mar. 20, 19,17.

Appli-cation led September 24, 1915.- Serial No. 52,520.

To all fwbom t may concern.' p

Be it known that I, EDWARD GREENWOOD, of Phillips, in the countyof Franklin and State of Maine, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Toothpi'ck-Machines, of which the following is aspecication.

My invention relates to machines for forming toothpicks from veneer strips wherein the strip of veneer is fed over slitting knives onto which it is forced by the vertical reciprocations of rapidly moving cutting block. The particular type of machine to which my invention. is directed is that in which the machines are designed to form the well known tapering toothpicks having the large end rounded or semicircular in outline, the small end 'being cut olf square. These tapering toothpicks are formedby a pair ofV slitting knives positioned side by side with a tapering space between them the exact width of the toothpick. One reciprocation of the cutting block cuts off two toothpicks from theiend of the veneer strip, one passing down between the knives and the other falling outside of the outer knife.

While the above described slitting knives have been common to all machines of this class, severalV different methods have been used for forming the rounded ends.

One form of cutting knife commonly used embodied the two slitting knives with lateral semicircular wings formed integral with the knives for forming the large ends of the toothpicks.

' `These knives were difficult to make and to keep sharpened and were liable to become Y i dull and do imperfect work.-

V.Another form made use oftwo straight slitting knives without end cutting wings,

Y the end cutting knives being spaced away from the slitting knives and being entirely separated from them.

VSuch an arrangement is shown in patent to A. H.' Hall, No."963,141 dated July 5, 1910. yIn this case ythe end cutting knives had a small semicircular knife for the small end of the toothpick and Aa larger semicircular knife for the large end, the two knives being formed integral.

The difliculty with this arrangement was that if it was not spaced away from the slitting knives with great exactitude a small sliver was liable t0 be .out fromthe 1er-se semicircle which would adhere to the small end of the adjacent toothpick, as more fully explainedhereinafter.

According to my invention I make the semicircular, cut for the large end of the toothpick before the straight knives are reached but I form on each of the straight knives a lateral wing for forming the smallV end so that even if the end cuts do not register exactly with the slitting knives no sliver can adhere to the small end of the toothpick as will be fully explained hereinafter.

The straight lateral wing formed on the end of each knife is easy to make and easy to keep in repair.

My invention may best be understood by reference to the accompanying drawing in which is shown the principal parts of a standard toothpick machine of the type above mentioned with my. cutting knives :attached. Y f

In the drawingv Figure 1 is a central vertical section through the machine from front to rear,

y Fig. l2 is a plan with the upper portion cut away and certain parts omitted,

. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the slitting knives, i

Fig. 4k is a diagram showing the arrangement ofl slitting and end forming knives.

with` relation to the veneer strips, Fig. 5 is a perspective view of end forming knives,

Fig. 6 is a detail of one end of the double slitting knives showing howvthey come together, l l v Fig. 7 is a diagram showing the result of failure to register in the Vconstruction of which the Hall patent'is an illustration and Figs. 8' and 9 are like diagrams showing the results in my arrangement of a failure tofregister. y

In the drawing like letters of reference indicate like parts..

I Referring to the drawing, @represents the bed of the machine, b b are the feed. rolls, c is the veneer strip, Z the vertically reciproeating cutting block and e is the lifting plate. The slittin knives f and f are secured in place on t e bed of the machine in the usual manner rby 'clamps g held in place by screwsg. Y y g.,

The knives f' and f areA formed with the curvedV straight slitting` edges for separating the toothpicks from the Aend of the veneer strip and they are held together in the usual manner by screws. They .are separated by a tapering space the exact width of a toothpick. One end of each knife has a lateral cutting wing formed on it for cutting off the smaller end of the toothpick, the opposite straight end being long enough to extend beyond the edge of the veneer strip.

As herein shown, the outer knife f has a wing extending from one end substantially at right angles to the straight portion of the knife and in a direction away from the knife The knife f has a lateral wing f3 which extends into contact with the inner surface of the knife f forniing the termination of the intervening space. To avoid the forniation of splinters tending to clog the corner where the wing f3 and the knife f come together, I cut away the edge of the knife f at f4 so that the wing acts iii-st inv cutting off the end of the toothpick and thenthe slitting 'portion of the knife comes into action and completes the formation of the toothpick. The formation of a splinter in the corner is thus avoided and any tendency to clog is overcome.

The rounded end of the tootlipick is formed by a pair of curved knives e' and z", one on each side and placed adjacent to the edge of the veneer strip. Each of the lknives z' and z" is spaced away from the corresponding end cutting wing at least one double space, that is, the distance the veneer strip moves in one stroke or the width of two tootlipicks. The knife 7l is spaced lone space from the wing f2 on the line of feed and the knife is spaced two double spaces from the wing f3. It is necessary. to space the .knives e' and z" far enough Laway from :the

main knife so that the knives will not touch but with this qualification 4they should 'be placed as near together as possible. The

relative positions of the slitting and the aux y iliary curved knives are clearly shown in Fig. 4 where the full lines show the cutting edges of the several knives and -the dotted lines show the outlines ofthe toothpicks already cut and to be cut.

Referring to Fig. 4 l, 2, 3, 4 and 5 indicate five toothpicks as they are cut or will be cut from the veneer strip. Assuming that the cutting block 'Ilias come down onto the knives, the toothpick l will be severed from the end of the veneer strip outside of the outer knife f and the toothpick 2 will pass down between the knives f and 7. In each case the rounded end of 2 will `have been cut by the knife i on the last stroke and the end of l will have been cut on the last stroke but one by the knife z". In both cases the small end is cut offv bythe wing knives 'and f3 z'on the 'fi-nal stroke.

In Figs. 7, 8 and 9 I have shown diagrams illustrating the effect of failure to register in the arrangement as shown in the I-IallV patent above referred to and when arranged according 'to my present invention.

Referring to Fig. 7, j and jare the two end cuts made on the stroke before the toothpicks are severed by the straight slitting knives la and 7c. If there is a failure to register, the pointed sliver m will be left on the small end of the toothpick and will be a very plainly seen and 'objectionable defect* in the article.

In Fig. 8 I illustrate afailuije to register in one direction in niy machine and in Fig. 9 I illustrate a failure to register in 'the opposite direction. In either case the shaded portion will come away carrying with it a portion split from the side ofthe toothpick which while Ait will make the toothpick alittle narrower will not be noticeable or particularly objectionable :like the splinter m yin the other case.V

. It will be seen that in any event whether the points register or not lmy Varrangement of knives .will ,produce toothpicks that are smooth and free from splinters. v

The curved end forming knives z' and z" projecting are ysecured to the upturned ends of the knife Y bars o, these bars resting on Vthe bed of the machine. Each of the ybars is held down yby a screw 0 and a vertical adjusting screw Q2 enables it to b e raised and lowered.

The knife is adjusted longitudinally of the bar by adjusting screws 03 engaging fixed standards o4 attached to the bed of the machine. v

I claim;

1. In a toothpick machine :of the character described, the combination of means for feeding a veneer strip, a pairof straight slit-V ting knives one :end of each knife extending beyond the edge of the veneer strip, said knives "being separated byga tapering space spaced away from said wings on the lineVV of feed one or more double spaces.

2. In a toothpick machine o-f the character described, the combination of a pair of slitting knives separated by a tapering space the vwidth of a toothpick, one of said knives having a wingV terminating `said tapering space and impinging on "the inner side of the other knife, the cutting edge of the last mentioned knife being depressed below the Y cutting edge of ksaid 'wing at ithe point cf junction. p

3. In aftooth-pic'k machine 'of the character described, the Icombinaticn of apair of 'slitting knives and an auxiliary end cutting In testimony whereof I have a'HiXed my Y knife spaced ahead of said slitting knives, signature.

a knife bai' to the end of which said end cutting knife is secured, said knife bar eX- tending to the front of the machine and-an Witnesses: adjusting screw at the 'front of the machine JAMES MORRISON,

for adjusting the knife bai' longitudinally. CHARLES F. CHANDLER.

EDWARD GREENWOOD.

' Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commssiner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

